Guard-rail appliance for railroads.



No. 892,869. PATBNTED JULY 7, 1908.

E. MUIR. GUARD RAIL APPLIANCE FOR RAILROADS.

. PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PT.17.1907.

f 1 qr 2- 1 W 6 0 WITNESSES N VE N 70/? Ida/ma? flair A TTOH/VEYS EDWARD MUIR. OF SPRING FHCIID, l.l.l.li l()lS.

GUARD-RAIL APPLIANCE FOR RAILROADS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-July 7, 1908.

Application filed September 17, 1907.- Serial No. 393.419.

To all whomit may concern.

Be it known that I, EDWARD MUIR, 'a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Springfield, in the county of Sangamon. and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Details of Construction for Guard- Rail Appliances for Railroads, of which the 'form, block tor retaining said block in operative pos t on between a main track rail and a following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Ordinarily, the guard rail where applied. is secured in placeby means of spikes that engage the guard rail, and are driven into cross ties whereon the guard rail is seated. This method of securing a guard rail frequently proves to be unreliablefor several causes, and in consequence, serious accidents have occurred.

One ob'ect of this invention is to provide a-filling block of novel form for spacing the guard rail from an adjacent track rail at and near each end of the guard rail, said filling blocks also serving as foot guards and a fur ther ob'ect'is to provide a clamp of novel which coacts with the improved filling guard rail.

The invention consists in the novel con .struction and combination of parts, as is hereinafter described and defined in the ap ended claims. V eference is to behad to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specilication, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views. I Figure l is a plan view of a supported track.

rail in part, a guard rail, and the improved appliances a-p lied 't'or holding the guard rail in position; ig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional View, substantially on the line '2l in Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is a side view of a guard rail and of a novel detail connected therewith, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view, substantially on the line 44 in Fig. 1.

In the drawings that represent a )ractical embodiment of the invention, 5 indicates a railroad track rail, and 6, cross ties whereon the track rail is seated and secured by spikes a. A guard rail 7, formed of track rail matcrial, similar in form considered transversely,

to the track rail 5, is placed upon the cross ties 6 at a suitable point opposite and near to the track rail 5 and secured thereto by spikes a.

One essential detail of the invention consists-ofa' filling block 8 which in duplicate, is

located between the track rail 5 and guard rail 7 at the ends of the latter.

As represented in Fig. 1, the end portions 7 of the guard rail 7 are bent laterally at equal degrees, thus causingthc extremities of the guard rail to diverge from thc side of the main track rail and all'ord an entrance throat thereat as usual. The spaccsbetween the track rail 5 and guard rail 7, at each end ol the latter, if not filled up to the balls of the track rail and guard rail, are liable to catch and hold the foot ol an unwary person traversing the railroad tra(-k-. ..()nc feature of the 'lilling block h. l'or each end ol the guard rail 7, consists in such a formation of its body as adapts it to lit closely in the converged space between the track rail 5 and guard rail 7, as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

in Fig. 2, thcuppcr surl'uce 1) ol the lilling block 5% is shown concavcd between the truck rail 5 and guard rail 7, while the sides and portions of the top surl'ace thcrcol lit respectively in bearing contact upon the webs and lower surfaces of the balls of the rails. lt will also be noted that thc lower surlncc ol' the filling block is shaped so as to be seated upon the adjacent basc flanges ol the track rail andguard rail; furthermore, the height of the filling block, at 'its inner end, is so proportioned that thc heads or balls of the rails 5, 7, only extend above the concavity I), which will effectively )revcnt onos feet from wedging immovably between these rails at their points of closest approach to each others As usual, the guard rail 7 is secured upon the cross tics G by spikes u, as bclore mentioned, and as a special means for holding the guard rail in position thereon, a pair ol' novcl clamps are provided. Each clamp consists of a irel'crabl mallcablc metal body 5) formed with a central trai-isvcrsc recess r therein, that is undercut along each side at the junction thereof with tlic bottom, thus producing two opposed channels c wherein the outer base llangcs of the track rail 5 and guard rail 7 are embedded, as shown in Fig. 2. The clamping block 9, on the side of the recess 0 in each one that is above the undercut channel 0, bears upon the outcnsurlacc of the web of a track rail and uard rail respectively. when the blocks are p nccd in position. I

Each filling block 8 is sloped outward and downward on its concave upper surface from the inner portion, which is of least width, to

the outer end b thereof, thus affording a gradual upward trend to said concaved surface '1), as shown'in Fig. 4,-wh1ch adapts car wheels and the like to traverse the track rail at the guard rail, without jar. Each clam". em loyed, embraces the webs of the trac mi 5 and guard rail 7, where the narrow end portionof a respective filling block 8 is introduc'ed between the webs of said rails that are parallel at said points; and for holding the filling blocks in enforced engagement with the webs of the track rail and guard rail, the clampin blocks, rail webs and intervening ends of t ie filling blocks are transversely perforated, said holes receiving bolts (1 which are held in place by nuts (1. Preferably the holes in the. clamping blocks 9 and the filling bl0cks'8 are cast therein by use of cores, said parts being formed of cast steel or iron as may be referred. 1

It will be seen that by the described construction and arrangement of parts, a guard rail support and attachment, which is novel, very simple, durable, absolutely safe, and

convenient to lace or remove, is provided at afcomparative y low cost. I r

In assembling the device, the brake rail being in place, the clamp blocksl), are posi- Y tioned on the track rail afterwhich the guard rail 7 is positioned in the clamps. The

filling blocks 1) are now inserted and thebolts the track rail and the diverging ortion of.

the guard rail, and a'portion wit1 arallel sides for eligagin between the paral el portions of the guar rail and the track rail, the filling blocks havin concaved upper surfaces inclined downwardly toward the outer ends thereof, and clamps having a recess on the.

upper ,face for receiving the trackrail, the uard'rail; and the filling block, said recess em undercut to receive the rail bases, and

a be t traversing the rails and the filling blocks. a a -,In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of twosubscribingwitnesses.

EDWARD MUIR.

Witnesses:

HENRY RAUH, R. M.. LUcAs. 

